The Broken Vessel
by 3 Left Feet
Summary: An NHL player is about to show his physical therapist that sometimes the healer is the one who needs healing the most.  Reviews would be most wonderful.
1. Announcement

All the characters, places, etc. are completely fictional and from some weird place in this weird author's brain. Any similarities to any real people are completely coincidental.

*****Announcement*****

PLEASE read and review. I would love to hear if you like it, hate it, think it's totally unrealistic, TELL ME! Just please be _constructive._ I want to write stories that people will enjoy.

Also, updates might be slow coming. Life just bombarded me with ten bajillion things to get done in what seems like ten seconds. But writing is my stress relief, so I'll try to keep this going.

On a minor note: the prologue is horrendously long. I promise that not every chapter will be that long. And the rest of the chapters will all be from Polly's perspective. (I think... I have the exclusive right to change my mind whenever I want...)

I will try and post any announcements on this front page. So if this story is the highlight of your life (which I hope it's not...) you can always check here to see what's going on progress-wise.


	2. Prologue

**Polly**

Polly Matthews pulled her car into the parking spot in the employee lot near St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. She turned off her red 2002 Toyota Camry and rested her head against the back of the seat. Inhaling deeply, she took the keys out of the ignition and mentally prepared for what lay ahead.

This was going to be tough.

Walking to the employee entrance was one of the longest walks of her life. Making the way to her supervisor's office, Polly took in the surroundings and all the memories that were entwined within those walls. She took the long way around so she would not have to pass by that room - the room that held more memories than the rest of this hospital put together. The room that was the reason Polly needed to leave.

She stopped at the entrance to the room. She could picture all of the kids that had been in there. She could hear all of the laughter and see all of the tears. She could feel those little arms around her neck. She could see him, his eyes full of hope and full of pain, his mother grasping his cold hand in hers.

The building was the same. It was filled with the same smells, the same sounds. It never changed. That was why she needed to move on. To keep moving forward.

Taking a deep breath, Polly walked into the Director of Rehabilitative Services office. It was time to start the next chapter. To take the next step in this journey we call life.

**Polly**

_6 Months Later_

"Aunt Polly! Aunt Polly! Look at flower. Flower! Flower!" The little blonde girl came barreling down the sidewalk and fell into her aunt's arms.

Polly laughed and held the little girl at arms length, tucking the girl's curly hair back behind her ear. She kissed her 3-year old niece on the cheek as she picked her up and said, "The flower is very beautiful, Hadley Mae, but it is not as beautiful as you!"

The little girl giggled and practically shoved the flower up Polly's nose.

"Well, if it isn't the prodigal sister!" A voice exclaimed from the front porch. Looking up, Polly saw her older brother, Alistair, wiping his hands on an old rag. He looked like he had just finished working on his latest project – an old 65' Mustang convertible – for the night. His blond hair and blue 'KU Alumni" shirt were covered in black streaks from the grease and oil. The Wednesday sun was starting to set and the Chicago air was thick with humidity.

Polly set down Hadley Mae, who ran back to the porch and hugged her father's leg. Polly walked down the sidewalk, climbed up the stairs to the porch, and stood in front of her brother. "Oh my word, boy! You've gotten so tall!" She reached over and pinched Alistair's cheek.

Alistair swatted her hand away, playfully. "It's amazing how much someone can grow in 6 months. Even at the age of 24. Now you better get yourself inside before my wife decides to cook yet another cheesecake. Because as wonderful and beautiful as Lindsay is, she cooks SO MUCH food. Ever since Papa Joe got her that subscription to "Down Home Cooking" for Christmas, I have to work out twice as hard to maintain this manly figure." He said, flexing his muscles.

"Whatever!" Lindsay yelled from inside the house. The voice got closer saying, "You know that he could eat a 9 course meal 5 times a day long before he met me." Alistair's beautiful wife appeared around the corner – looking stunning in plain blue sweater that brought out the color in her eyes and some jeans. Her curly blonder hair was put up in a messy ponytail, but it looked perfect. Polly was jealous of how someone could look so amazing with so little effort.

The two girls gave each other a big hug and moved into the house. Alistair and Hadley Mae followed. Polly helped Hadley Mae get washed up for dinner while Lindsay finished making the meal and Alistair changed out of his grease covered clothes.

The family and Polly sat down to dinner. After saying grace and a fair bit of small talk, Alistair asked the question that Polly had been trying to avoid for the past 6 months.

"So Polly, what are you going to do now that you're not at St. Jude anymore? I mean, you already tried the whole overseas missions work thing, but that didn't last. Do you have any ideas?"

Lindsay must have kicked Alistair under the table, because he let out a very audible "Ow!", and then Lindsay mouthed the word, "subtle", at her husband.

Polly had to give a silent giggle at the exchange between the two.

But Lindsay wasn't letting her sister-in-law off the hook that easily. "Well, now that Captain Smooth over here has opened up that can of worms… Seriously, sweet girl, do you have any plans? Interviews? Anything?"

Lindsay looked down and moved the food around on her plate, as she answered, "Not really Jippy from the missions agency that I worked with in Guatemala said she might be able to track down some openings at the nursing home her mom is at. But other than that, I haven't really found that much. So much for the field of physical therapy growing exponentially over the next few years. I haven't been able to find a single job out of a hospital."

"Would going back to work at a hospital really be that bad?" Alistair asked.

Lindsay dropped her fork and excused herself from the table. She picked up Hadley Mae and said she was going to go give her a bath and get her ready for bed. "It seems like you two have a lot to talk about."

After Lindsay and Hadley Mae had gone upstairs, Alistair spoke up, "Sis, I'm sorry. I forgot. I'm stupid. I forgot how hard it was for you that last bit at St. Jude. Just don't listen me. I should not be allowed to open my mouth. Ever. You have a baboon for a brother. I am so sorry…"

"Okay! Okay! Okay! I forgive you! Just… SHHH! Calm down. It's okay." Polly said, starting to giggle. "But it really does mean a lot to me that you care so much. It means a lot that you ask. And to answer your question, your first one that is, I honestly don't know. My life is in limbo right now. And that scares me. That scares me more than you know. I have control over nothing right now. And it's driving me crazy! I wish I could just snap my fingers and have a job. I wish I could snap my fingers and forget everything that happened. But that's not going to happen. So now… now is the time that I need to start moving forward and to take everything I've learned and use it to do something. Whatever that something is."

Alistair scooted his chair closer so he was sitting next to his older sister. He put his arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder. "Oh Polly, you are such a strong person with so much heart. And no matter what or where you end up, you will be doing something great. Lindsay and I will be praying for you. We are here for you no matter what. This is just part of the adventure. And now for your cliché of the day: 'When God closes a door, he opens a window.' It seems like a lot of doors have been closed, but that just means that that open window is just around the corner."

"Why do work at a marketing job, little bro? You should seriously be a motivational speaker or writing greeting cards or something!" Polly said.

Polly stayed at Alistair's and Lindsay's for a few more hours. They talked about Hadley's 2nd birthday, the Stanley Cup this year, and how Lindsay's cousin just got married – to a circus clown. At the end of the night, Lindsay sent Polly home with tons of leftovers and they set up a coffee date for Saturday.

**Alistair**

"Matthews! Did you get those ticket trend reports for the meeting with Freeman this afternoon?" Daniel Walter, Alistair's partner and best friend from college called out from his office.

"Yes, sir! I am looking at them right now. Are you ready for this? It's our first meeting as 'co – Vice Presidents of Marketing'. Does the sound of that ever get old?"

"No! And neither does the fact that we are the youngest VPs of any department in any NHL team's history. Now that's pretty ridiculous. It makes me want to go back Prof. Murphy's "Stats and Trends" class and make him rue the day he ever said that Mathews and Walter would never make it in the business world. I mean: What now?" Daniel was really revved up.

Alistair laughed before warning his friend to lay off the coffee.

20 minutes later, the two men grabbed their coats and headed over to the arena where the team played all their home games. It was an off-season meeting, so Freeman wanted to treat everyone to a meeting in the team's locker room. Daniel and Alistair were like two little kids in a candy shop.

When the meeting got started, Stan Freeman, the team's GM, made introductions for the "youngest VP's in the history of the franchise". Then he asked if there was any major news regarding the players that the coaches felt that all the department heads should be aware of. Joel Pickerington, the head coach who was there on behalf of the entire coaching staff, said that all the boys were doing well, but it was the off-season so transactions were still taking place, so everyone was still a little wary. They ran through the departments and each VP gave a brief update.

Alistair and Daniel were second to last. They presented their ticket-sales trending reports from the previous season and their ideas on how to make improvements for the next year. Alistair presented the last part of their trends report and closed by letting their peers know that just because they were young, they were not incapable, it just gave them a different perspective on the marketing world. "Now, we know that we're young, and it seems like we made it too far, too fast, and that concerns a lot of you. But we also want you to know that we don't think that because we've made it this far, this fast that we know all that we need to know. If you have any ideas, any of you from any department, on how we can market better, we want to hear them, because we believe in our team and the fact that they are the best team out there!"

The final division to present was the medical department. This was composed of the dental, orthopedic, ophthalmologic, internal and emergency medicine, and mental health professionals, as well as the athletic trainers and physical therapists. Because this department spanned so many different areas, they had three presentations: an internal, emergency and mental health combined; an ophthalmologic and dental combined; and a training and prevention combined. Mike Gilbert, the head athletic trainer, closed out the meeting with the news that Jeff Atkinson, the assistant AT, would be moving at the end of the year, and that they would post the job opening nationally soon. "Atkinson has been an amazing asset to our staff, so as he's wrapping up his time with us, be sure that you let him know how much he means to us and how much we will miss him. And if you know of anybody who might be interested in the assistant AT position, please have them contact me."

People lingered after the meeting ended, talking to each other and catching up on their personal lives. Joel Pickerington came over to Alistair and David and congratulated them on their recent promotion. He started to tell them about his nephew who just graduated from Harvard Business School. Alistair excused himself from the conversation and walked over to Mike Gilbert.

"Mr. Gilbert, I was wondering if you had a minute?" He said, approaching the older man who was getting ready to leave.

"What can I do for you son?" He said gruffly.

"My sister is looking for a job, she has a degree in athletic training from University of Texas and she got her degree in physical therapy from the Mayo Clinic. She's smarter than smart and her heart is impossibly big. I was wondering if it might be possible for Polly to try for the assistant AT position."

Mike looked confused. "Why would she want an _assistant _AT position when she could work as a physical therapist at any hospital in the country? Don't get me wrong, I would love to interview her, it seems like she would be a great addition to our team, but it sounds like she's overqualified. I just don't want to be the one making her 'waste' her talents."

Alistair sighed, "There is a long story behind some of this. But it is not my place to tell you it. I hope that if you give her a chance to interview for this position that she can let you in on that part of her story."

Walking out of the meeting with Daniel 10 minutes later, Alistair pulled out his phone and called Polly. "Sis, I might have found a job for you. You still like hockey, right?"

**Lucas**

The best part of the off-season was going home. And the worst part of the off-season was being home. There was absolutely nothing like the Georgia coast in July. Nothing.

But there was also no way for Lucas Jacobson, captain of one of the top teams in the NHL, to practice his skating or his shooting or anything. At least there were wasn't anyway to do it without being mobbed by fans.

On this particular evening, Lucas was enjoying the amazing sunset that was taking place before him. He was sitting in on the little private beach area out behind his secluded, run down cottage. He had just finished another day of working on renovating the little shack. Watching his Old English Bulldog, Murphy, bark at the waves and then run away from them was one of the funniest things that Lucas had ever seen in his life. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he took in the sights around him.

Just as Murphy launched himself into Lucas' lap, Lucas' phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Cobs! My man! What is up?"

"This couldn't be who I think it is. Because the James Hernandez that I know is supposed to be spending his summer wrapped up in the glory of Halifax's high society. And he has no time for us little people."

Lucas thought he might have heard Jimmy snort as he laughed.

"You should be so honored. You do realize that I turned down an invitation to a mayoral dinner just to make this phone call. No. No. But Luke, I was just calling to let you know that I am in Georgia right now. Callie's old roommate is getting married this weekend and Cal's the maid of honor. She was really uncomfortable with the thought of some groomsman trying to be all, what was the word she used? Handsy? With her. So she asked me to come along."

"That is so Jimmy." Lucas said into the phone, giving Murphy a scratch behind his ears.

"What is?" Lucas couldn't help but smile as he pictured Jimmy's look of confusion. It was way to easy to mess with this kid.

"The only girl who will go out with you is your older sister. You need help boy."

"Oh you are just too funny. Just for that, I might not come see you tomorrow. Cal has to spend the day getting ready for the wedding, and I thought you might want to hang out. But I guess you would rather mock me than hang out with me."

Lucas rolled his eyes as Jimmy played the victim card. Sometimes he could act like such a diva.

"Well, I mean if you're going to get all huffy and puffy about it… Listen Jimmy-boy. I have to keep working on this crap-shack, otherwise I don't think I can get it done before the season starts up. But you can come here and hang out. Play with Murphy. Whatever you want to do. Maybe I'll even let you use the big-boy tools."

It was so easy to pick on Jimmy. James Beck was the youngest player in the NHL, but you wouldn't know it by the way he played. He had just come out of his first season being named Captain the next year and with quite a few records to his name. It was hard to believe that he was just 18. So while he was kicking his teammates' butts on the ice, they would mock him for his youthfulness off of it.

Jimmy laughed. "Would you really, old man?"

"I am just that kind."

The two hockey stars made their plans for the following morning. Finding Lucas' place from the main road could get really confusing, so they agreed to meet at a quiet coffee shop in the closest town. While they were there, they would get some supplies, and then they would head back to the "crap-shack".

After they hung up, Lucas sat outside for a little bit longer, just taking in the beauty of the stars. He lay on his back. Murphy put his wrinkly head of Lucas' stomach and let out a big dog sigh.

"Murphy?" The dog just looked at him. "Don't you ever just get the feeling that there is something more out there? Something… I don't know… just something else? …Of course you don't. You're a dog."

Murphy let out a whimper and snuggled in closer to Lucas. There were times where Lucas could swear that that dog knew exactly how he was feeling.

"Oh boy. I've lost it. I am talking to a ball of wrinkles and drool." He scratched Murphy's back.

Taking one last glance up at the sky, Lucas stood up, carrying Murphy, and walked inside.

**Jimmy**

Pulling up to "Doris' Diner" in the "downtown" of Playford, Jimmy couldn't help but feel like he had stepped into a Hallmark movie. It was so, what was the word that Callie used all the time? Quaint? No. Precious? No – though that was quickly becoming her new favorite word. Charming! That is it. It was all so charming. All of the stores looked like people who just wanted to spend time getting to know their patrons owned them. There was not a chain restaurant or fast food joint in sight. It was like a step back in time.

And if he thought that was bad, walking into "Doris' Diner" was like entering a whole separate universe. There was a counter with barstools pulled up to it, and each seat was filled with people talking to each other about the local little league or the catching up on the latest gossip. There were flyers to the right of the chalkboard menu, advertising teen open mike night and the talent show down at the school. The menu was handwritten, and it had a "Special of the Day" in huge letters.

From looking around the little diner, Jimmy got the feeling that each thing on the menu was a "special" because there was probably no place like this anywhere else in the world.

Taking his sunglasses off, he came into the restaurant even further. Suddenly, a middle-aged woman with her hair pulled up messily appeared in front of him. She had on a bright red apron and was smacking on her gum like if she didn't chew hard enough it might try and eat her.

"I haven't seen you around here before." _Chomp, chomp. _"Can I help you, boy?" The woman twirled her finger around her hair and blew a bubble with her gum.

"I'm meeting someone. I was a little early. He should be here soon." Jimmy was feeling a little uncomfortable with this middle age woman so close, and she was getting even closer, looking him over like he was going to do something wrong.

"Who are you meeting? I know everyone in this to-"

"JIMMY BOY!" A voice bellowed. Suddenly Jimmy felt a smack on his back, and with it a giant wave of relief. "Now, Daisy. You weren't giving my friend here a hard time were you? This kid is something special, so you should treat him right, you hear?" Lucas had his arm around Jimmy's shoulders and was giving this woman, apparently named Daisy, a stern, yet teasing, look.

"Now Lucas Michael! How could you ever think that I would hassle your friends? I am hurt!" _Chomp, chomp._ Daisy batted her eyelashes at Lucas twirled light brown hair around her finger, letting out a little giggle.

"Daisy I hate to rush in and out, but Jimmy and I have a busy day ahead of us. Can we get two servings of Doris' famous French toast and two of your delicious blueberry smoothies to go?"

Daisy went to work and five minutes later the boys had their food and were out the door. As they were leaving, Lucas turned around and said to Daisy, "Hey, you tell Joey I said 'hi', okay?"

Once they reached their cars, Jimmy looked at Lucas and asked, "Who's Joey?"

With a sly grin, Lucas answered, "Her husband. Don't let her scare you, kid. She's all talk, perfectly harmless. Now, I already stopped by Lou's Hardware and got everything we're going to need for today, so just follow me and try not to get lost."

Lucas climbed in his old red pickup and Jimmy hopped in his fancy black sedan. They drove out of Playford and onto a windy back road. About 20 minutes later, they reached a driveway with a rusty old mailbox at the end. Lucas pulled into a clearing next to the mailbox and signaled for Jimmy to do the same.

"Welcome to my humble abode. I hope that you are up to date on your tetanus shots. Now can you help me with some of this stuff?"

Jimmy and Lucas unloaded his truck and carried it down the driveway and into the shed on the side of the crumbling blue cottage.

"I know it looks bad. But it's got some major potential!" Lucas eyes lit up picturing all of the possibilities.

Jimmy cocked his head, his brown curls falling in his eyes, and looked at his friend. "I can tell that this is something that makes you really excited. I mean, you look like you just won the Stanley Cup, you're so hyped up right now. So let's get to work, old guy, and put all of this energy to good work before you need to go take a nap."

Lucas smiled at his friend, and then grabbed him in a headlock and the two started to wrestle. All of a sudden, a dog was on top of them, drooling all over the place.

"Murphy!" Lucas laughed, out of breath. "What are you doing boy? Well, I guess this is his way of saying hello."

Jimmy wiped off his face, "Yummy."

The two athletes worked on the house all day. By the time the sun was starting to set, they had finished all of the demo and were starting in on fixing the near ancient plumbing. But the sun was setting, so Lucas insisted that they be done for the day. He grabbed them some dinner from the fridge in the trailer he was living in next to the shed. They sat down on the beach and started in on their food.

Jimmy was silent for a few minutes before speaking up, "Cobs, I love what you're doing here. I think that it's going to look great when you're done. But what I don't understand is, why are you putting in all of this time, money, and effort for an average house? Why wouldn't you just save the time and the effort and just buy a big house that isn't in the middle of nowhere?"

Lucas pondered the question for a few minutes. "James. Look at the sunset in front of you right now. Could you get that in a big mansion in the suburbs? But the nature here isn't the only reason I am doing this. I want a house that is distinctly me. This house is run down and broken and falling apart. I have a chance to start over and make it anything I want it to be. And at the point I'm at in my life right now, that's exactly who I am too. I am getting a fresh start, and new chance to take the brokenness that has been my life up until right now and turn it into something beautiful. I could have built a house from scratch, sure. But I feel like all the stuff the foundation of this house will have gone through by the time it is finished will make it so strong and sturdy that any other house would just seem weak compared to this. You know that the last year has been tough for me, but I feel like something or maybe even some One is giving me a second chance to make something beautiful out of something broken. And I would be a fool to waste that chance.

"I know that you have just come out of the season of your life and that you are only 18. So this probably doesn't make any sense to you. But sometimes the more broken something is, the more beautiful it can become. And up until this point in my life, I feel like I have just become more and more broken, but now I feel like it is my turn to become something amazing."

Jimmy was silent for a long time. He sat there, looking at the final drops of the sunset.

Lucas was beginning to feel trapped by the silence, so he spoke up, "Sorry dude. I didn't mean to go all greeting card inspirational on you. I just had a…momentary lapse of brain function."

"No! Cobs. Okay, yeah, that was some bucketful of cheesiness right there. But it sounded good. It made me think about a lot of stuff. Did you hear that Jeff Atkinson is leaving?"

"Atkie?"

"Yeah. I hear they're replacing him with some chick. She's supposed to be really smart. And really good at her job. But she's a chick – that could get awkward."

"Atkinson's leaving? Wow. After this season, I figured he would tell me about anything like that. Do you know why he's leaving?"

Jimmy smiled, "He said he's just feeling the age, he just wants to go get out there and live life with Leeann. They're going to move to some place out in the country and open up that ranch for special needs kids like they've always dreamed about."

Lucas was quiet. "Hernandez, do you ever want that?"

"To move to a farm and work with kids? I can't say it's ever been at the _top_ of my list. No."

"You idiot." Lucas said, pushing his friend over in the sand. "Not that. Do you ever dream about life after hockey? Like what you want to do after that?"

Jimmy laughed. "I'm 18. The only thing I'm concerned about is actually getting a date, not a wife. I still have a few years before people start nagging on me to start the whole "ring by spring" dealio. Thank God. Cal's 23 and these women are always trying to set her up. Please God – never let me be set up on a blind date by old Mrs. White from up the street. Please!" He squinted his eyes shut and pretended to pray, lifting his hands high in the air.

The two friends laughed and talked about mundane things the rest of the night. Jimmy had to leave about an hour and half later because he had to go to the wedding the next day. But Lucas and Jimmy both agreed that before the pre-season training started, Jimmy had to come to Playford one more time to see how the house was coming along.

**Polly**

It was two weeks before the team started its official pre-season practices. Polly had set up a meeting with Jeff Atkinson to see if he had any advice, tips, or important information for her, since he was leaving before the start of the season.

Alistair had called Polly the night before to see if she wanted to head over to the practice arena, where her meeting was, together. Apparently he was working on some marketing stuff and wanted input from some of the training staff. It seemed a little weird, but her brother was a little bit of a strange peach himself. And who was Polly to talk? It wasn't like business was anywhere near her area of expertise.

The two Williams siblings were sitting in the red Camry that had stopped at a red light. It was a beautiful summer day, so naturally the windows were down and the radio was playing – with the brother and sister duo crooning out the music.

Alistair reached over and turned down the volume. Looking at his sister, who turned to glare at him, he asked, "Are you excited? I mean, aren't our jobs just the best? We get to hang out with hockey players and make money doing it."

"You mean I do. You get to work in an office with your buddy."

Alistair stuck his tongue out at Polly. "Just because your job description specifically involves spending time with the team, it doesn't mean that I don't get to do cool things too. Take today, for instance. Today, I am going to meet with the assistant coaches, who spend more time with the players than Pickerington does."

Polly rolled her eyes. "And what exactly, little brother, does hanging out with them have to do with your job? How does this fit into your 'marketing strategies'?"

"Well, it's like this. You see, because the coaches spend more time with the players they have a better understanding of what the players like. With their insight, we can create an, um, marketing strategy that reflects both the players and the coaching staff while targeting the fan base."

The older sister was impressed. "Way to be quick on your feet, Al. But we both know that this is just an excuse to sneak around the players more. You are CAUGHT OUT little kid. Caught out."

Alistair raised his hands in mock surrender. Placing his hands back on the steering wheel, he turned the car into the arena parking lot.

Polly wandered around the space outside of Jeff Atkinson's office, quietly waiting for him to finish a phone call. The walls were bare, everything having already been packed away. Polly glanced over the workspace. It reminded her a lot of the AT practice rooms in college, where she spent hours practicing wrapping and stretching therapy techniques.

"You must be Polly." A voice from behind startled Polly.

Turning around, she saw an older man wearing a team polo and khakis. He was almost completely bald and looked to he in his mid-60's. He wore a grin that could light up the entire arena. "I'm Jeff Atkinson." The old man said, holding out his hand.

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Atkinson."

"Jeff, please. Why don't you come on into my office? We can talk for a little bit."

Polly followed Jeff through the door into a small office that was filled with crayon drawings and pictures of Jeff with, whom Polly only assumed to be, his family.

"So, Polly, as you know, I'm retiring and will be taking off in a few weeks. I've looked over your resume, and you are more than prepared and qualified for this job. You are even more qualified than I am for this job. You're probably more qualified than Mr. Mike Gilbert, but don't tell him I said that!" The old man let out a little chuckle with a cheeky grin.

"Thank you, Jeff. It means a lot to hear that. I know that you are a big part of this team."

"Now Polly, whenever we bring someone new onto the team staff, we usually have a staff meeting to fill them in on certain players and their needs. But this time around, I asked if I could have a one on one meeting with you. I have spent a lot of time with these players, and you will too. So I just wanted to tell you about what to expect over the next few weeks."

Over the next half an hour, Jeff Atkinson gave Polly invaluable advice related to the technical aspects of her new job. They discussed the dynamics of the team and how the assistant athletic trainer fits into that. He went through the roster and addressed the main injuries and physical dangers that the players had dealt with recently.

Towards the end of the meeting, Jeff Atkinson closed his file and took off his reading glasses. "Now, there is one player that I feel I need to give special attention too. Lucas Jacobson…"

"Sorry to interrupt, but just to clarify: Lucas Jacobson, as in the captain?" Polly interjected.

"Yes, as in the captain. He has had a number of injuries in the past few seasons. Thankfully these injuries were not major and did not keep him out of the game for long, so they went under the media's radar. However, he is on the League's concussion watch: one more and he's out until they can do thorough neurological testing. And as a personal recommendation, watch his back. And I mean that literally, my dear. The more he injures it, the more I'm scared that he's going to do permanent damage, especially to his nerves. He's a stubborn, stubborn kid. But he's got a good heart. Sometimes he just doesn't know when to quit. He is so scared of letting the team down, that he won't take a break. For me, can you look after him?"

Polly could tell that Jeff was getting choked up. She couldn't help but admire the man's devotion to the team. "Of course I can, Sir."

"One final word of advice, Miss Matthews, and this doesn't just apply to the job: learn something everyday. It could be a random tidbit of information about someone on the team, it could be about how to do your job, or it could be about life. But take something away from everyday."


End file.
